Google is obsessed with speed. By many accounts its Chrome web browser is already the fastest out there, and it runs laps around the two big boys: Firefox and IE. But that’s not good enough for Google. And so now they’re also working on their own web content transportation protocol.
To be clear, despite some of the wording ins its blog post, SPDY (pronounced “speedy”) isn’t about fully replacing HTTP, the standard web protocol since 1996, but it is about augmenting it, to make delivery faster. How much faster? After doing some initial internal tests with Chrome, Google claims that the top 25 websites in the world can load up to 55% faster with SPDY.
Of course, as Google notes, those tests were done in Google’s labs, likely under optimal conditions. SPDY in an average home during daily use may produce different results. But again, this protocol is still very young, so it’s entirely possible that things could get even faster. To that end, Google is asking for the development community’s help. They’ve posted some early documentation and code samples, hoping for feedback.
In the docs, Google lays out the difference between HTTP and SPDY:
SPDY is intended to be as compatible as possible with current web-based applications. This means that, from the perspective of the server business logic or application API, nothing has changed. To achieve this, all of the application request and response header semantics are preserved. SPDY introduces a “session” which resides between the HTTP application layer and the TCP transport to regulate the flow of data. This “session” is akin to an HTTP request-response pair.
I reached out to Google just to confirm that they weren’t going to try and do something completely crazy like change the “http://” we all know and love with “spdy://”, don’t worry, they’re not. As stated above, SPDY will create a session of sorts that resides between HTTP and the data transportation.
What will be interesting about this protocol is if it’s optimized for Chrome over the other web browsers. It would seem Google wouldn’t do that, since its ultimate goal is to have people using the web through any means as quickly as they can (so as best to serve their ads more often). But when you’re developing both a protocol and a browser, it seems likely that Google will have an advantage to offer the best experience.
A few startups are also working on ways to deliver web content faster. One, FasterWeb, which we covered in July, is hoping to improve web surfing speeds tenfold next year. Their approach is different, optimizing content on the provider or ISP end.
Sounds great!
I want to see some advancements in this area of the Internet and it takes a mammoth power source like Google to make this happen.
Interesting stuff from the protocol documentation.
Techie people have been talking about how much of a hack HTTP is for years. Tackling problems like this is what Google can do to really make a lasting impact on the world. Bravo!
Maybe I’m missing something, but which of the Top 25 websites loads slow on a typical broadband connection today? It’s usually the bloated, poorly designed websites that load slowly.
You are missing something. Sites like CNN or ESPN are way slower than necessary with all their unoptimized images etc. Install http://code.goo...docs/using.html , try it on your favorite site, and weep.
Does this mean I will be able to look at LOLCATz 55% faster?
In which case, they will need to update their website more often…
Speed’s relative, and grabbing a page twice as fast for Google means they grab twice as many pages. It’s great for them, great for your server too, as the connections are shorter. Something doesn’t have to be slow to get faster.
Imagine– Techcrunch loads in like 5 minutes instead of 10. Make sense now?
It is a very good step, it will definitely benefit users from the countries where internet is very slow.
Anyone else realize that this has some incredible potential with Google Wave?
Of course.
The reason that Google is in many ways focused on improving the speed of the web is due to the fact is it is where they are located.
By the internet getting faster, they are able to make their website faster, their bots faster, and their applications more efficient.
It is similar to the music companies trying to innovate on types of DRM used with its music. Luckily, a faster internet is beneficial to all of us.
For clarity. A better DRM standard is better for the music industry, as it lets them make more money. A better Web standard is beneficial to Google because it lets them make more money.
Luckily, as I said before, Google is trying to innovate on something that the consumer wants. Not just the company.
Absolutely.
Not only with Google Wave but also with Chrome OS.
Two thumbs up.
This is just awesome, awesome news!
The Faster the internet, the Faster I can load up techcrunch.com
Google just keep on out pacing the competition. Can anyone catch them
whatever makes web faster, i ♥ it!
Why do you guys always say “reach out” when you mean contact? Reach out is such a weasel word.
I wanna play with SPDY.
“But when you’re developing both a protocol and a browser, it seems likely that Google will have an advantage to offer the best experience.”
Google’s been smart about this historically, it’s against their interest to use the protocol to push their browser (except when either protocol or browser have dominant marketshare, which they don’t.)
This makes little sense. Of course you could use this to push their browser. Who wouldn’t want their GMail/Docs/Search to be 2x as fast? Chrome has been getting adoption largely based on its speed, this is just one more performance reason to use it.
Yay! A proprietary extension to an established protocol pushed by a single vendor! Everybody’s cheering! This will be for the benefit of everyone, right, because when a company does that, it does it for the _common_ good, right?
It’s a great contribution.
Also, for sure it will work over all browsers but with added advantage to their browser.